It is well-known that children, particularly pre-school aged children, may be enticed to learn various principles through the use of play. By incorporating lessons into the game that is played, a child""s attention may be captured by the enjoyment of playing the game, while at the same time the child is gaining experience in important concepts, often without even realizing that he or she is being taught. This concept may start with extremely rudimentary concepts at very young ages, such as the development of hand-to-eye coordination by the simple grasping, moving, holding, dropping, etc. of simple objects. Once simple motor skills have been developed, the child progresses incrementally to even more complicated lessons.
Even abstract subjects such as mathematics can be grounded in a child through the use of well-designed play. It is usually easier for a child to learn through the association of visual representations than by simple memorization, and concepts learned in this manner are usually retained by the child for a longer period of time. This is especially true of the rudimentary arithmetic processes such as addition, subtraction, etc. By presenting to the child a series of physical objects that correspond to the abstract principles, the young mind is more readily able to comprehend such quantities by mechanical means rather than by more difficult abstract reasoning.
In light of this, many toys and games are known in the prior art that are designed to teach some basic arithmetic skills; however, it has been found that such games are normally limited in the number of rudimentary concepts that can be taught to the child by use of the game, are uninteresting to many children, or are difficult to use. The present invention is therefore directed toward providing a physically manipulative game that is fun to play, allows for the participation of a teacher or another child, and teaches a great variety of rudimentary skills, rather than being limited to just two or three.
The present invention relates to a math manipulative educational learning game in which a plurality of rods are provided for use in various manipulative games designed to teach rudimentary arithmetic skills. In the preferred embodiment, the rods are of various lengths and/or volumes, with the shortest length comprising a unit length, and other rods being formed in integral multiples of the unit length. Various games are disclosed in which a child is encouraged to manipulate the rods in various ways and in order to learn various arithmetic lessons. For example, in one game a Game Master selects any of the rods except the rod having unit length and places it upon a game playing surface. Thereafter, the Partner must select a plurality of rods whose combined lengths equal the length of the rod played by the Game Master. These rods are laid end-to-end along side the rod played by the Game Master in order to demonstrate their length equality. The Game Master then selects another rod other than the rod of unit length and lays the second rod end-to-end with the first rod which the Game Master played. The Partner is again required to select a plurality of rods whose combined lengths, when placed end-to-end with the rods already played by the Partner, equal the length of the rods played by the Game Master. The play continues in this manner until no more moves may be made from the selection of rods remaining. Other manipulative games are also disclosed.
In one form of the invention, a method of playing a math manipulative educational learning game between a Game Master and a Partner is disclosed, comprising the steps of a) Providing a kit comprising a plurality of rods of varying lengths, wherein a shortest length rod is designated as having a unitary length, wherein each other of said varying lengths is a multiple of said unitary length, and wherein each of said rods has a side and an end; b) Game Master placing on a game surface a first rod selected from any of said rods except said rod having unitary length, said first rod having a first rod length; c) Partner placing on said game surface adjacent said side of said first rod a first plurality of rods end-to-end having a combined length equal to said first rod length; d) Game Master placing on said game surface a second rod selected from any of said rods except said rod having unitary length, said second rod having a second rod length, said second rod being placed end-to-end with said first rod; e) Partner placing on said game surface a second plurality of rods end-to-end with said first plurality of rods, said second plurality of rods having a combined length equal to said second rod length; and f) Repeating steps (d) and (e) until not enough of said rods are left to make a play.
In another form of the invention, a method of playing a math manipulative educational learning game between a Game Master and a Partner is disclosed, comprising the steps of a) Providing a kit comprising a plurality of rods of varying lengths, wherein a shortest length rod is designated as having a unitary length, wherein each other of said varying lengths is a multiple of said unitary length, and wherein each of said rods has a side and an end; b) Game Master placing on a game surface a first rod selected from any of said rods except said rod having unitary length, said first rod having a first rod length; c) Game Master establishing an inequality; d) Partner placing on said game surface adjacent said side of said first rod a first plurality of rods end-to-end having a combined length equal to said first rod length plus said inequality; e) Game Master placing on said game surface a second rod selected from any of said rods, said second rod having a second rod length, said second rod being placed end-to-end with said first rod; f) Partner placing on said game surface a second plurality of rods end-to-end with said first plurality of rods, said first and second plurality of rods having a combined length equal to said first and second rod length plus said inequality; and g) Repeating steps (d) and (e) until not enough of said rods are left to make a play.
In yet another form of the invention, a method of playing a math manipulative educational learning game between a Game Master and a Partner is disclosed, comprising the steps of a) Providing a kit comprising a plurality of rods of varying lengths, wherein a shortest length rod is designated as having a unitary length, wherein each other of said varying lengths is a multiple of said unitary length, and wherein each of said rods has a side and an end; b) Game Master placing on a game surface a first rod selected from any of said rods except said rod having unitary length, said first rod having a first rod length; c) Game Master establishing a pattern comprising a series of inequalities; d) Partner placing on said game surface adjacent said side of said first rod a first plurality of rods end-to-end having a combined length equal to said first rod length plus a first inequality in said pattern; e) Game Master placing on said game surface a second rod selected from any of said rods, said second rod having a second rod length, said second rod being placed end-to-end with said first rod; f) Partner placing on said game surface a second plurality of rods end-to-end with said first plurality of rods, said second plurality of rods having a combined length equal to said second rod length plus a second inequality in said pattern; and g) Repeating steps (d) and (e) until not enough of said rods are left to make a play.
In another form of the invention, a method of playing a math manipulative educational learning game between a Game Master and a Partner is disclosed, comprising the steps of a) Providing a kit comprising a plurality of rods having hollow interiors of varying volumes, wherein a smallest volume rod is designated as having a unitary volume, wherein each other of said varying volumes is a multiple of said unitary volume; b) Game Master selecting a first rod selected from any of said rods except said rod having unitary volume, said first rod having a first volume; c) Partner selecting a first plurality of rods having a combined volume equal to said first rod volume; d) Completely filling said first plurality of rods with a substance; and e) Pouring said substance from said first plurality of rods into said first rod in order to verify that said combined volume equals said first volume.
In yet another form of the invention, a math manipulative educational learning game is disclosed, comprising a plurality of rods, each of said rods having a longitudinal section removed therefrom so that each of said rods will lie on a flat surface without rolling; wherein each of said rods have varying lengths, wherein a shortest length rod is designated as having a length defining one unit of length, wherein each other of said varying lengths is a multiple of said unit of length; and one or more notches formed into a surface of each of said rods, wherein each said notch is positioned substantially at a midpoint of each unit of length of said rod.
In another form of the invention, a math manipulative educational learning game is disclosed, comprising a plurality of rods; wherein each of said rods have varying lengths, wherein a shortest length rod is designated as having a length defining one unit of length, wherein each other of said varying lengths is a multiple of said unit of length; and one or more notches formed into a surface of each of said rods, wherein each said notch is positioned substantially at a midpoint of each unit of length of said rod.